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Want innovation that drives sales? Slow down

Inventive package structures require at least 18 months, but economic pressure too often speeds up the design. Approach innovation as a cross-functional process, two gurus say.

Pw 9255 Folgers

In a recent survey of nearly 250 Shelf Impact! readers ranging from brand and product managers to designers to packaging materials suppliers, two-thirds of the respondents say that a year or less is sufficient time to get a truly innovative package from concept to finished product on the store shelf.

Some would say this is little more than wishful thinking. “It's very naïve for people to think you're going to do something truly groundbreaking in six to 12 months,” says Peter Clarke, president of Product Ventures (www.productventures.com), a structural design firm that has worked on innovative packages over the past 20 years for the likes of Kraft, Procter & Gamble, and Heinz. Clarke acknowledges that innovative packaging needs to get to shelf as quickly as possible. But he says designs that meaningfully marry package and product require more time—sometimes significantly more—than many product manufacturers are giving them. Instead, package development bows to economic pressure to get some products to market too quickly—and they fail.

“The amount of time required for an innovative package depends on how you define innovation,” Clarke explains. “A shape change or a functional difference in how the package works requires 18 months. If the package needs new equipment and new components, you're looking at three-plus years.”

However, additional factors—such as the product itself, marketing strategy complexity, and the corporate culture in which the package development team operates—can affect the timeline. For a company such as Nike, brands fit lifestyles and are marketed through storytelling. Package creation is more measured. “Quick-strike products and packaging take nine months to develop while sophisticated product introductions require up to four years, says Heather Amuny-Dey, Nike design director North America.

“At Nike, marketing is very respectful of the value of design,” Dey told the Proof: Market Research & Development for Package Design conference in September.

Conversely, Del Monte markets commodity products such as canned fruits and vegetables. “Innovation” at Del Monte often means less-complex strategies such as product line extensions that may require relatively simple label-design alterations, notes Bonnie McFarland, director of graphic design and packaging. Packages that Del Monte defines as innovative typically require six to 12 months for completion, she says.

Clarke mentions two other factors that are often unconsidered when building a timeline for innovation-packaging testing and whether a “hard” packaging changeover will be necessary. “By ‘hard' changeover, I mean the retailer may want enough inventory on hand to completely replace an old package, rather than phasing out the old packages. For a mass merchandiser, it takes months to produce enough inventory for the initial start-up.”

Clarke emphasizes that innovation should be approached as a process rather than as a step in package development. Kevin Leibel, president of Innovation Management (www.innovationmanagement.com), a consultancy whose clients include Coca-Cola and Kodak, concurs.

“It's not a bolt of lightning where you say, ‘Here's a great idea,'” Leibel says. “You need to look at macro trends and understand how packaging complements what's inside the package. Many companies go through this exercise with their product development, but not with package development.”

Product manufacturers that treat innovation as a process and devote sufficient time to package development can create a lasting embodiment of their brand's identity. Following are three packages that succeed in achieving this objective.

Folgers Coffeehouse Series. When extending a product line to court a new audience, color is usually leveraged first as a design tactic. When the objective is distinguishing the new premium line from a brand's established “workhorse” line, a special color mix may be appropriate—yet it can also bring unforeseen challenges.

P&G had worked extensively with Product Ventures several years ago to create the groundbreaking high-density polyethylene AromaSeal red and green handled canisters for its Folgers “everyday” coffees. But recently, P&G marketers wanted the right visual effect to extend the line into premium coffees under the Coffeehouse Series sub-brand. In the process, P&G took the container design to new innovative heights by using the same canister structure while changing how color was used in the canister wall. The color of choice was a deep red/burgundy with a soft pearlescent effect for the canister and a gold lid. These colors differentiate the Coffeehouse Series line from everyday Folgers coffees' red or green canisters with black lids.

Achieving the desired look for the Coffeehouse Series, however, presented a formidable challenge. Design firm LPK, Clariant Masterbatches' (www.clariant.masterbatches.com) ColorWorks center, and Liquid Container Corp. (www.liquidcontainer.com) solved it collectively by concentrating on color physics rather than color chemistry, drawing inspiration from personal-care packaging.

“This was an excellent example of collaboration,” says Gerard Buisson, principal packaging engineer for Folgers on the Coffeehouse Series canisters. “LPK was very clear on what they wanted in the target colors. Clariant was able to arrange some very quick trials, work with Liquid Container on how the different layers came together, and then develop the proper formulations.”

Initial canister samples for the Coffeehouse Series line lacked the desired luster and reflectivity, says Andrew Tesnar, LPK senior design director. However, LPK recalled the successful redesign of P&G's Olay Quench line of personal care packaging and contacted Clariant's ColorWorks center, where the visually striking Olay bottles had been developed.

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